ABCs of K-12 Experiential Education

Characteristics of Learning - Knowledge Transfer

Learning is all about thinking. In order for knowledge to be acquired a certain level of thinking must take place. Those levels are also called the taxonomy of learning. Taxonomy can be compared to a ladder; the higher you go on the taxonomy the deeper the level of thinking taking place for the individual. Perhaps the most well known learning taxonomy is that of Benjamin Bloom. When you look at his taxonomy there are three domains involved: thinking, doing (motor skills) and attitude of the individual. Any act of learning then involves those three domains.

In K12 classes, lessons are the blueprint for learning opportunities. In classrooms the work or activity taking place is based on a lesson designed by the teacher. Hopefully, those lessons provide learning opportunities during the course of class. And, this is the point where effective teachers separate from ineffective teachers. An effective teacher understands what is necessary to provide a learning opportunity. For example, assigning a worksheet to complete, or assigning reading material from a book or article is not a learning opportunity. Those are tasks or tools to reinforce new material already covered, or to explore what a student knows or doesn't know but in no way are they a learning opportunity.

10 NLP Patterns For Educators

Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP) is as famous for its effective use in personal coaching and therapeutic applications as it is for its colorful origins. Yet despite the great potential of NLP's insights to enhance or even transform education, formal inroads into schools, colleges and universities remain elusive. One reason, perhaps, is that NLP training is a competitive industry in its own right, with a slight new-age flavor and a price point that makes NLP prohibitive for school systems to adopt widely. Another reason may be that among the factions within the NLP business, consistency of approach and quality is lacking, leaving schools to consult with NLP trainers on an ad hoc basis, if at all.

To help bridge the divide between NLP proponents and educators, I offer this article, and herein would like to discuss NLP not as a business, but as phenomenology, or what happens subjectively inside the learning mind, hoping the NLP ideas here will find their way into more and more classrooms.